Methods and Systems for Monitoring Structures and Systems

1. A passenger monitoring and control system comprising: at least one sensor system positioned proximate a respective one of a plurality of passengers in a vehicle, said sensor system configured to monitor at least one of an environment immediately surrounding the respective passenger and biometrics of the respective passenger and generate sensor data indicative of a state of the passenger; and a processing system communicatively coupled to at least one of said sensor systems, said processing system configured to receive the sensor data, said processing system comprises: an ontology and reasoning module configured to model at least one of the plurality of passengers, reason about the received sensor data associated with the at least one of the plurality of passengers and reason about the relationships between the received sensor data to fuse the data into contextual information for the overall at least one of the plurality of passengers; and a contextual analyzer configured to transmit the received sensor data to said ontology and reasoning module and to store the information into a contextual information database.

2. The system in accordance with claim 1 wherein said at least one sensor system comprises a sensor that includes a carbon-based nano-structure, said sensor exhibiting an electronic property that varies in response to a presence of a predetermined molecule.

3. The system in accordance with claim 1 wherein said sensor system comprises a sensor that exhibits a property that varies in response to a presence of a predetermined substance that is at least one of a substance of human origin, a substance indicative of the presence of a microbe associated with human illness, a substance prohibited to be carried on the vehicle by a passenger, a radioactive substance, and a substance of a product of combustion or pyrolysis.

4. The system in accordance with claim 3 wherein said substance of human origin comprises a pheromone, a hormone, a substance exhaled from the lungs, a substance secreted through the skin.

5. The system in accordance with claim 3 wherein said substance of indicative of the presence of a microbe associated with human illness comprises at least one of anthrax, avian flu, Ebola, Hepatitis B, mumps, measles, chicken pox, small pox and other airborne contagions.

6. The system in accordance with claim 3 wherein said substance of prohibited to be carried on the vehicle by a passenger comprises an explosive substance, a flammable substance, a corrosive substance, a chemically reactive substance, and a gas or airborne particulate that is adverse to human health or comfort.

7. The system in accordance with claim 1 wherein said sensor system comprises a plurality of sensors positioned proximate the respective one of the plurality of passengers in the vehicle.

8. The system in accordance with claim 1 wherein said sensor system is configured to monitor at least one of a humidity, a temperature, a sound level, a light level, and a movement of air, immediately surrounding the respective passenger.

9. The system in accordance with claim 1 wherein said sensor system is configured to monitor at least one of a body temperature, an amount of movement, a respiration, a heart rate, and a contact pressure bearing of the surface of the respective passenger.

10. The system in accordance with claim 1 further comprising a data acquisition module and sensor controller that permits said data acquisition module to retrieve real time and historical sensor data and contextual information from said sensor system.

11. The system in accordance with claim 1 further comprising a contextual information database configured store sensor data fused by said ontology and reasoning module into contextual information for the plurality of passengers to be monitored.

12. The system in accordance with claim 1 further comprising an array sensing algorithm module comprising logic that governs at least one of the order in which specific sensor systems are interrogated and the periodicity of their respective interrogations.

13. The system in accordance with claim 1 further comprising a situation awareness analyzer configured to determine a present state of the plurality of passengers to be monitored, generate notification alerts in real time, and receive current and past contextual information generated by a contextual analyzer.

14. A method of passenger monitoring, said method comprising: positioning a sensor system proximate a respective at least one passenger in a vehicle, said sensor system each including one or more sensors configured to monitor at least one of an environment immediately surrounding the respective passenger and biometrics of the respective passenger and generate sensor data indicative of a state of the passenger; wirelessly transmitting the data to at least one of another one of the plurality of sensor systems and a processing system; and analyzing the data to determine a contextual relationship between each of the plurality of sensor systems and the received data such that a present state of at least one of the passengers is determined.

15. The method in accordance with claim 14 further comprising analyzing the data to determine a presence of a substance proximate the passenger wherein said substance is a substance of human origin, a substance indicative of the presence of a microbe associated with human illness, a substance prohibited to be carried on the vehicle by a passenger, a radioactive substance, and a substance of a product of combustion or pyrolysis.

16. A sensor networking system for passenger monitoring, said system comprising: a plurality of sensor systems positioned about a vehicle, said sensor systems comprising a flexible substrate, an energy harvesting system, a rechargeable battery, and a microprocessor that controls wireless communication between at least one of said sensor systems and a processing system remote from said plurality of sensor systems, said plurality of sensor systems further comprising sensors including a plurality of different modalities; and a processing system communicatively coupled to at least one of said plurality of sensor systems, said processing system configured to receive at least one of sensor data and fused sensor data, said processing system comprising a situation awareness analyzer configured to determine an overall present state of the vehicle by observing the passengers, activities associated with the passengers, and aircraft systems using the plurality of sensor systems and correlating individual data elements and behavioral models to deduce overall passenger and system state.

17. The system in accordance with claim 16 wherein said situation awareness analyzer is further configured to generate notification alerts in real time, and receive current and past contextual information generated by a contextual analyzer.

18. The system in accordance with claim 16 wherein said system is further configured to generate control signal to be transmitted to one or more vehicle systems such that a comfort level of at least one passenger is facilitated being improved.

19. The system in accordance with claim 16 further comprising an ontology and reasoning module configured to model passengers and system components related to the vehicle, reason about the received sensor data associated with the passengers and system components related to the aircraft and reason about the relationships between the received sensor data to fuse the data into contextual information for the overall passenger state, the environment proximate the passengers, and system components related to the vehicle.

20. The system in accordance with claim 16 further comprising a data acquisition module and sensor controller that permits said data acquisition module to retrieve real time and historical sensor data and contextual information from said plurality of sensor systems.